Win or Die With Bigpoint's 'Game of Thrones' MMO

As two other Game of
Thrones titles being out in the market, it is a fierce competition to
develop this game for Bigpoint. what is the biggest challenge of adapting the
hugely popular TV serise for Bigpoint? what is the most important goal for them?
From the wealth of content, what are they focus on in the game? Would two other
opponents impede their development?There is an interview from MTV.

During GDC, Bigpoint was showing off Game of Thrones, which is based directly
on the HBO series and being developed in conjunction with the show. We spoke to
the game's Executive Producer, Rob Ollett, about bringing this rendition of the
show and the novels to your browser at the beginning of 2013.

"With any deep piece of fantasy IP, you're going to meet a lot of people who
absolutely live and die for the detail, and they love it." This was what Ollett
told me when I asked about the biggest challenge of adapting the hugely popular
TV series which makes its second season premiere the first Sunday in April. In
fact, Ollett says that he was a fan of the novels before working on Bigpoint's
free-to-play MMO and coming to the project knew there would be challenges in
being faithful to a linear storyline in a very non-linear RPG.For Ollett, the
novels and TV show have provided ample fodder to get a game off the ground; "All
the thing I need to produce a great game," he explains, "are in [the novels].
And I have to cherrypick them into an experience that can be social."

Right now, the most important goal for the Bigpoint team seems to be that
social component as they attempt to build a community within the game in advance
of its release. For Ollett, it's important that Game of Thrones capture the
political element of the series while also "being a game where you hit people
with swords and hammers and ride on horses, which there are lots of." Ollett
believes that one of the unique selling points of their title is that a player
should be able to win without having to swing their sword, a directive that came
right from George R. R. Martin.

The game is based around the various factions found in the GoT universe, the
houses, families, and alliances all marching towards (or trying to avoid)
all-out war. With that in mind, depending on your choice of character class, you
can either be a bruiser, wading through enemies, or a political master, setting
territorial boundaries and attempting to sway your opponents through
manipulation and forging friendships with player and NPC characters.

Ollett says that the wealth of content from the source material means that
the Bigpoint team has had to be judicious in prioritizing what goes into the
game. He says that PvP combat, castle sieges, and politics were the three
pillars that were essential to the game. I asked him what Bigpoint had to draw
focus away from when developing the game and he said that questing had to be
scaled back; Bigpoint has found with some of their other titles like the
Battlestar Galactica MMO, that heavy questing and story content don't draw in
their gamers as much as combat and objective-based interactions. "We did that
with Battlestar, and [that] community loves our game, so we don't feel like
we're gypping anybody," Ollett, explained.

Back to that social component, for Ollett, one of the most important things
right now and what he acknowledges is the key element for an MMO's survival is
keeping his team's game community-oriented. That means creating content that
encourages players to work in groups, to team up to take down a group of
enemies, to plan raids and strategize inside and outside of the game space. He
points to castle sieges as being the "epic gameplay," and kind of the endgame
for some of Game of Thrones' social scenarios.

Right now, he says it's key for Game of Thrones to start developing a
community. He says that some of the people who've played Battlestar most avidly
are the ones who've been around the longest. He credits the success of that
title with creating social spaces in the game where you can meet someone you
don't know, interact, and work toward a common goal or against a common threat.
He says that's the secret to retention and it's key that GoT have social tools
in place.

As for two other Game of Thrones titles being out in the market by the time
the Bigpoint MMO is available, Ollett isn't especially concerned, saying that
all three games offer their own experiences to fans of the novels and TV show.
At the same time, Bigpoint it taking its time to get GoT made, rolling it out at
their own pace to get to the level of quality that they want without the
constraints of meeting any calendars related to the show's release.

Ollett says that we can look forward to Game of Thrones the MMO about three
months before the debut of the third season of the HBO series, meaning we can
probably expect it around January of 2013.